Waiting for the Two Forty-Five
by Vol lady
Summary: I was feeling silly today and this came out. It takes place not long after "A Flock of Trouble."


WAITING FOR THE TWO FORTY-FIVE

"Good morning," Victoria started to say, but she stopped abruptly when she saw that the only person at the breakfast table was Audra.

"Good morning, Mother," Audra said in her normal, cheerful voice.

Victoria sat down. She knew Jarrod would not be present – he had been in San Francisco for two weeks and wasn't due back until later today – but Nick and Heath should have been there. "Have you seen Nick and Heath?" she asked.

Audra nodded. "They'll be along in a minute or two. Nick wanted to get the horses ready to go to town."

"They're leaving this early?"

"Something about seeing someone about some new brood mares this morning."

"Hm," Victoria said with an internal shrug. "They hadn't said anything about that to me."

"To me either, not until this morning. What time is Jarrod due in? They asked, but I couldn't tell them."

"Not until two forty-five. I wonder what they'll – " Victoria stopped and finished the sentence in her mind instead of out loud. " – get into before Jarrod arrives."

But Audra could read her mind. "Don't worry, Mother. I already asked them about that, and they promised they would stay out of trouble."

"Stay out of trouble," Victoria repeated doubtfully. "As I recall, the last time Nick had some free time in Stockton, he got into a card game and came home with a flock of sheep."

"And I promise I won't do it again," Nick said, overhearing everything as he and Heath came through the door and sat down at the table.

Audra suppressed a laugh as Victoria began the blessing, with a smile. When she had finished, she went to the sideboard to fill her plate. Her children waited until she was seated again before heading there themselves.

"What do you plan to do with all that time?" Victoria asked.

Nick and Heath looked at each other. "Well," Heath said, "we're not exactly sure how much time we'll end up having."

"Yeah," Nick said. "We're not sure where this fella has the horses, and we'll have to get something to eat before the train comes in, so we're just gonna have to – see how long everything takes."

Victoria noticed that Audra, the first of her children to sit back down, was smirking. "I'm sorry, Mother, I just can't help it," she finally said and began laughing.

"Aw, come on now," Nick said. "Why are the two of you assuming we can't keep out of trouble for a few hours?"

"History is not on your side, Nicholas," Victoria said, smiling at Audra. "But I will look on the bright side. If you do get into trouble, your lawyer will be there at two forty-five."

Nick gave her a look that said "Very funny" as he sat down at the table.

Nick and Heath rode easily into town at about ten thirty. Already the streets were full of people shopping, or working at their businesses, or just moving from one place to another. The morning stagecoach was just leaving as they came in and hitched their horses to the rail outside the mercantile.

"What are we going to tell Mother and Audra when we don't show up with any new brood mares?" Heath asked as they dismounted.

"Well, what was I supposed to say?" Nick said. "We're going in early to check on a birthday present we ordered for Mother?"

"No, but brood mares?" Heath asked.

"What would you have said?"

"Stallions."

Nick gave another of his "very funny" sneers to his brother. They went into the mercantile together and found several people in there, one of them being tended to by the proprietor and three waiting for his attention.

"Well, this is gonna take a while," Nick said. "Why don't we go get a beer and come back later?"

"Because it's ten thirty in the morning," Heath said. He started nosing around at the merchandise, especially at the bolts of cloth.

"You gonna take up sewing?" Nick asked.

"No, but I could use a new shirt if I can talk Audra into making one for me."

The proprietor saw them and waved but continued with the woman he was waiting on. He finished with her in a moment and turned to the next woman who was waiting.

"This is tedious," Nick said.

"We gotta see if that fabric we ordered for Mother is in, Nick. If it doesn't make it soon, we'll have to go for a backup birthday present. And it's not likely to get less busy around here as the day goes on," Heath told him.

But Nick was so uneasy just standing and waiting that he couldn't take it anymore. "Listen, why don't you check on it while I see if there's a poker game started up yet?"

"You promised you wouldn't do that."

"No, I promised I wouldn't bring home a flock of sheep. Lend me a few dollars, will you?" Nick held out his hand.

"Why? You have money."

"I'll need it to pay for the fabric."

"But you're not even staying here!"

"You can look at the fabric. If you like it, I'll come back and pay for it. If you don't, we'll do something else. Come on. Twenty dollars."

"Go to the bank!"

"Come on!"

Heath grudgingly handed over a twenty, knowing he'd regret it, and Nick was out the door.

Left by himself in a room full of women and one harried storekeeper, Heath just heaved a sigh. In a few moments, his attention was drawn back to the fabric and the new shirt he wanted Audra to make for him, simply because there was nothing else to do. This wasn't promising to be a very enjoyable day.

Nick strode over to his favorite saloon in search of a poker game. It had been weeks and he was itching to make some money, and to live down the sheep episode. He lucked out – a game had already started at a table in the back of the saloon. Three men he knew were already there, and thankfully, none of them had been there for the "sheep game."

"All right I sit in?" Nick asked as he approached.

A man Nick knew as Tim Garber, local rancher, motioned to the empty chair, and Nick took it. He got his money out as the men there finished up the current hand. "What's the game?" Nick asked.

"Dealer's choice," another man, Sam Turner, a farmer with a family who had no business being in this game, said.

It was the third man's deal. He was Jubal Conrad, a farrier and a pain in the neck. He had a permanent scowl on his face. "Five card draw, nothing wild, pair of jacks to open," he said tonelessly and dealt.

"Two dollar ante," Garber said to Nick.

Nick anted as Conrad dealt, then carefully picked up his cards and leaned back in his chair. He fanned them slowly, keeping them very close to his chest. They were not great – a four and seven of clubs, a nine of spades, a three of diamonds and king of hearts.

Turner, the only one able to open, opened for five dollars. When it came around to Nick he considered folding on the spot, but put five dollars in anyway. Maybe he'd get something on the draw.

Everybody had simply seen the bet. When it came his turn to draw, Nick said, "Three," and discarded the three, four and seven. He drew a second king, this one of spades, and a two of clubs and three of hearts.

Not much of a hand, but Nick played it anyway. When Conrad bet another five dollars, Nick raised it to ten. Then he watched the others.

Meanwhile, Heath found he had an audience of the ladies of Stockton beginning to form around him, some giving him advice about what shirt cloth he should buy, some asking his advice about how other cloth would look on them. The shopkeeper was taking a while with the customer In line before Heath, and Heath was getting anxious.

Especially when the wife of the minister raised some cloth up to her neck and asked him, "What do you think, Heath? Is this pattern too – provocative for a minister's wife?"

It was a blue cotton fabric with a pattern Heath could not quite make out. He bent to look more closely and found himself only inches away from her bosom. When she backed off a little, he stood up straight quickly, never having seen the pattern very well.

Oh, he thought to himself, this is not going well. "Well, um," he said, "I think it's – just fine, but only if you really like the blue."

She smiled politely and looked more closely at other fabric.

Heath breathed a sigh of relief when she did.

Another woman was about to ask him for advice when the shopkeeper said, "What can I do for you, Mr. Barkley?"

Heath quickly went over to the counter. "I'm here to ask about that fabric Nick had special ordered a month or so ago. Has it come in yet?"

"Yes, in fact, it has. Wait just a moment."

The shopkeeper went into the back. Heath looked around nervously until he returned with a paper-wrapped package and placed it on the counter between them. "I thought your brother would be by to look at it," he said as he opened it.

"Well, you know Nick," Heath said. "He went looking for a poker game."

"Ran out of sheep, did he?" the shopkeeper laughed.

Heath laughed politely, too.

"Well, let's have a look at this," the shopkeeper said and opened the package all the way.

Heath found several women looking over his shoulder. They oohed and ahhed.

Heath had to admit, it was stunning. A beautiful emerald green satin that shimmered in the light, changing color with the way the light hit it.

"This is about the finest satin I've had in here," the shopkeeper said.

"It is beautiful," Heath agreed. "How much do we owe you?"

"Seven yards at fifty cents a yard," the man said. "It's a bargain, I'm telling you. And you already paid a dollar on it, so two-fifty."

Heath dug into his pocket, but then he remembered Nick wanted to see the fabric himself before buying it. "Uh – you better let me have Nick take a look, too."

The shopkeeper shrugged. "Suit yourself. I'll see you later today then?"

"I expect," Heath said, but he didn't really expect. He really had no idea and went to the saloon to find out what the situation was with Nick.

Nick was still in the game, although he was not winning at it. He had already lost the twenty dollars Heath gave him and was down to thirteen of his own. Heath couldn't tell any of that when he came into the saloon and spotted the game, but he could tell that the players were both smoking and drinking now. Not good. With a sigh, Heath checked the clock. It was almost noon, and there were still a few things to do before Jarrod's train arrived.

Heath walked over to the table and looked over Nick's shoulder at his hand. He had two pair, fours and nines – lousy hand but Heath did not let his opinion show on his face. Nick was running a bluff and feeding more money into the pot.

He was called. He showed his hand. By some miracle, everyone else folded.

"Haha!" Nick laughed and drew his money in.

"Nick, I saw the cloth, it looks good, we need to pay for it, get it and take it to the dressmaker," Heath said very quickly while Sam Turner shuffled the cards.

"Fine, go right ahead," Nick said happily.

"Don't you want to see it?"

"No, I trust your judgment."

"Then give me my twenty back so I can pay for it and pay the dressmaker."

"Sure," Nick said and gathered up twenty dollars, which he handed over his shoulder to his younger brother.

"It's almost noon," Heath said.

"Fine, fine," Nick said.

Heath was getting annoyed. "Won any sheep yet?"

Nick glared at him, turning his head only long enough to do that, then sending his glare back to the other snickering card players. Maybe they hadn't been there for the "sheep game," but like everybody else in town, they'd heard about it.

Heath took the money and went out of the saloon. In a few moments he was back at the mercantile – and back in line behind three women. Getting more impatient all the time, he waited, shifting his feet, making sure he went nowhere near the table of yard goods. He did not want to be a fashion consultant again.

It was a good ten minutes before the shopkeeper got around to serving Heath, but he was ready. He pulled the package of fabric out from under the counter. "Let me guess. Nick wasn't interested in leaving the card game."

Heath said, "I guess my brother is well known around here." He pulled the proper amount of money out of his pocket and paid the shopkeeper.

He tucked the package under his arm and headed straight for the dressmaker's. Her name was Sally Ann, a widow who worked out of her home one street off the main street. Heath hoped this was going to go fast, because he was getting really hungry.

Sally Ann was a fine looking woman, but a good twenty years older than Heath was. When she answered his knock, she smiled a happy smile and let him in. "Heath Barkley! How are you? It's so good to see you!"

"Hello, Sally Ann," Heath said and went in. He was happy to see there was no one else ahead of him for Sally Ann's attention.

Except that he suddenly got the feeling that her attention was a bit more than he was bargaining for. When he took his hat off and turned to talk to her, she was fixing her hair and brushing off her dress. "I was just about to pour some tea. Would you like some?"

Oh, my, Heath thought. What is this going to turn into?

Noon turned into twelve thirty, and Nick's good luck turned bad. The stack of winnings he'd had in front of him when Heath came by had shrunk to less than ten dollars, and he was hulking over the table on both elbows, very unhappy.

His hand had been dealt by Tim Garber, and it really stunk. Ace of hearts, two of spades, four of spades, five of clubs and six of hearts. He could not open, but Sam did. Nick folded and watched his ante go by.

Sam looked at Nick's money pile as he himself took the pot. "You're only good for one more ante and a small bet or two," he said to Nick.

"I know, I know," Nick said.

"You wanna go to the bank, we'll hold your seat for you."

Nick looked around. There wasn't anyone there to take his seat anyway, but he wasn't sure he wanted to get hold of more money to lose. He looked at the clock. Heath would be coming back anytime now. Nick drummed his fingers. "No, I'll play this hand and call it quits if I run dry."

"Suit yourself," Sam said.

It was Conrad's deal. He called five card draw, nothing wild, pair of jacks to open, just as he had called every game he dealt. Nick was getting irritated with him and almost hoped he'd lose this hand just so he could walk away from this game.

Conrad dealt him four threes and a jack of diamonds.

Nick opened for five dollars, leaving him one dollar. He was called all around. When asked how many cards he wanted, he said, "I'll play these."

Which he did, for a big one dollar bet. Turner and Garber saw his bet, but Conrad raised him ten dollars.

Nick pondered that as the others stared at him. He eyed his pocket watch and then lifted it up. "Give me ten for this?"

Conrad picked the watch up and looked at it closely. "It ain't much."

"Not much?" Nick almost bellowed. "It's straight from San Francisco."

"That don't make it good," Conrad said, never once cracking a smile.

"What'll you give me?" Nick asked, irritated.

"Five," Conrad said. "What else you got?"

Nick didn't have any more jewelry. "How about my spurs?"

"Lemme see 'em," Conrad said.

Nick lifted his foot onto the table. Turner shook his head and looked down to keep from laughing.

"All right, five more," Conrad said.

Turner and Garber folded, laughing privately.

Conrad laid down his cards. Four fours and a deuce.

Nick groaned and folded while Turner and Garber laughed out loud.

Heath really never wanted any tea, but to be polite, he accepted some, and what should have been a five minute transaction turned into a half hour social call. Sally Ann talked almost without stopping for a breath. Every time Heath tried to get around to the evening robe he wanted to have made for his mother, Sally Ann refilled his cup and kept talking.

He checked the clock and spotted twelve thirty. That was when he stood up and interrupted saying, "I'm sorry. It's been real nice to visit with you, but I'm afraid I have to be going. Can I show you this fabric we got for Mother's robe?"

"Oh, of course," Sally Ann said. "I'm sorry. I've talked your ear off."

Heath had left the package of fabric on a small table by the door, under his hat. They went over there together and Heath took the opportunity to put his hat on before he opened the package.

"Oh, this is beautiful," Sally Ann said and lifted just enough of the fabric to feel it between her fingers. "How much of it did you buy?"

"Seven yards," Heath said.

"And how wide is it?"

"Uh – " He didn't know. Maybe Nick did, but he didn't.

"Well, no matter," Sally Ann said. "I'm sure it will be plenty."

"How much do we owe you?" Heath asked.

"Well, probably six dollars or so. Three dollars will do for now. You can pay the rest when the robe is done."

"We'd like to have it for her birthday in two weeks," Heath said.

"I will get right on it!" Sally Ann replied cheerfully.

With a polite smile, Heath took three dollars out of his pocket and put them into her hand, squeezing it kindly as he did.

She smiled as shy a smile as a woman in her 40s could muster.

"Thank you," Heath said. "My brother Nick will be around for it the week after next."

Her smiled faded a little, but she revived it, even if it was a bit less enthusiastic.

Heath beat a retreat out of the house and down the street as fast as he could politely do it. He had gone a full block before he let his breath out.

Nick ran into Heath halfway between the saloon and Sally Ann's house, surprised he hadn't run into him earlier. "Where the heck have you been?"

Heath saw Nick's spurs were gone and knew right away where they went. "It was a long negotiation at Sally Ann's," he said. "I am starvin'. Let's get over to the Stockton House and eat something."

"Anywhere but the saloon," Nick said.

They strode over to the Stockton House, found a table in the café there, and sat down. A waitress came over and told them – with a smile at Heath – that the special of the day was chicken and dumplings, which they both quickly ordered. She had left them before Heath said, "So, you're broke."

"Flat," Nick said. "You brought me bad luck."

"Don't blame me, brother," Heath said.

"Ah –" Nick said with a wave of his hand, indicating he was not serious.

"Well, look on the bright side – " Heath started.

"Don't say it!" Nick said, pointing a finger at him.

"I wasn't gonna say anything about – "

"Don't even say the word!"

Heath put his hands up in surrender.

The waitress came back, looking – well, sheepish. "I'm sorry," she said, "we've just run out of chicken and dumplings."

Nick grumbled. "What else looks good?"

"Mutton," she said.

Heath had to turn away before he began to laugh.

They ate the mutton, and it was good. They took their time doing it, enjoying some time finally relaxing, savoring some good coffee and pie at the finish before Nick went to look at his watch.

Which, of course, he didn't have anymore.

Heath looked at his instead. "Boy, howdy, we'd better get to the depot. Jarrod's train will be here in five minutes."

They got up. Heath left money on the table as Nick said, "Doesn't matter. Train's always late."

They hurried outside anyway and were halfway to the train station before they heard a bellowing "Barkley!" behind them.

They turned. Jubal Conrad was hurrying up the street after them.

"What's this about?" Heath asked.

"I don't know," Nick said.

And with that Conrad was on top of him – no mean feat, since he was a good six inches shorter than Nick. He shook a finger up into Nick's face, making Nick pull back a bit. "That watch of yours is worthless garbage! You owe me five dollars!"

Nick blew up. "Worthless garbage?! That's a first class watch worth twice what you staked me for it! You looked at it yourself and named the price!"

Conrad slugged him.

Not expecting it, Nick went down on his rump in the dirt. Heath tried to hold Conrad back, but Conrad slugged him, too and sent him twisting down on his face next to Nick.

Nick jumped back up and slugged Conrad back, and then they were at it. Heath scrambled up and out of the way as a crowd began to form around them.

And then the sheriff was there. He was one of the few men in town who was bigger than Nick and had no trouble grabbing him by the shirt and pulling him off Conrad.

"All right, all right, let the man up, Nick," the sheriff said.

"Me let him up?!" Nick yelled. "He jumped me! I'm minding my own business and suddenly he slugged me right in the face!"

"The man's a cheat!" Conrad shouted.

They pointed at each other and shouted and the sheriff finally had enough. "All right, I'm taking you both in!"

"What?!" Nick yelled.

"Keep it to yourself, Nick, or I'll get you thirty days you won't like," the sheriff said.

Nick took a deep breath and looked over at Heath. "Get Jarrod, will you?" he said as the sheriff took him and Conrad away.

Heath slumped and shook his head, then watched Nick trudge off with the sheriff and Conrad.

And the whistle of the two forty-five train went off.

Jarrod climbed down from his private car, a cigar in his mouth, pealing off bills from his money clip to tip the porter who had taken his bags from the train and set them on the platform. He looked around after thanking the man and spotted Heath coming his way. He saw the dust and dirt on him right away and grinned.

"Heath, my good man, you're a mess," he said, reaching to shake his brother's hand.

Heath took Jarrod's hand and looked down at himself at the same time. "Yeah, I guess so."

"What's been going on?" Jarrod asked.

"Well, I've been picking up after Nick for the last five hours," Heath said.

Jarrod laughed. "Five hours? Where is Nick?"

"Jail."

"What for?"

"Fighting."

"Did he bust anything up?"

"Jubal Conrad."

"You couldn't pay the fine?"

Heath shrugged. "I spent all my money on Mother's birthday present."

"Where was Nick's money?"

"Poker."

Jarrod looked around suspiciously, then back at Heath. "Where are the sheep?"

Heath explained his part of the day as he helped Jarrod carry his bags to the wagon one of the hands from the ranch had brought into town to collect Jarrod and his things. Jarrod waved the man on back to the ranch, saying he'd get a horse from the livery. He had no idea how long it was going to take to get Nick out of jail, so he told the man to just mention to his mother that there was some "unexpected business" in town and they would be along when they took care of it.

They went over to the jail then and found Nick pacing up and down a cell and the sheriff behind his desk. Conrad was nowhere to be seen.

"Conrad paid his fine," the sheriff said to Heath's quizzical look. "Nick says he's broke."

"Oh, he is," Heath said.

Jarrod had already drifted, grinning, to the cell where Nick was locked up. He stood looking his younger brother up and down, happy to be as irritating as possible.

"Will you just get me out of here?" Nick said.

"Depends," Jarrod said. Then to the sheriff, "What's the fine, Fred?"

"Ten dollars," the sheriff said.

"You didn't even have ten dollars?" Jarrod said to Nick.

"He didn't even have ten cents," Heath said.

"Will you just get me out of here?!" Nick bellowed, grabbing the bars of the cell door.

"All right, all right," Jarrod said and pealed ten dollars from his money clip and gave it to the sheriff.

The sheriff handed him the keys to the cell door.

Jarrod carried them over to the cell and let Nick out. "Well, I guess you'll have a bit of explaining to do to Mother and Audra."

Nick came out of the cell and went to the sheriff for his hat and gunbelt, which the sheriff happily provided. "Let's just get out of here and go home."

Jarrod winked at Heath. "So where did all your money go, Nick?"

Nick stopped and glared at him.

"Just rehearsal for explaining things to Mother," Jarrod said.

"Poker," Nick said flatly.

"Poker," Jarrod repeated. "Well, I guess there's one good thing we can say about that."

Nick stuck a finger in his older brother's face. "Don't – even – say – the – word."

And he turned on his heel and went out the door. Jarrod gave the sheriff a wave, and he and Heath followed along.

THE END


End file.
